A home-schooled fourth grader in Kailua, Xavier Cienna, looked forward to outings with Ethan Fournier, 25, a mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters Hawaii who took the 9-year-old for meals, hikes, movies, frozen yogurt or miniature golf and talked about whatever was on Xavier’s mind.

“Honestly, we both talk a lot, and we share a lot of interests — like cars,” Xavier said, adding that as he plans to join the Marines when he’s 18, it’s a plus that Fournier is a pediatric nurse in the Army.

“Xavier is the only boy in our house: his two sisters and I know nothing about cars,” said his mother, Nicole Cienna, adding that Fournier was exactly the male role model Xavier needed.

The two had been meeting for nine months when Honolulu’s coronavirus stay-at-home order took effect in March, but now they actually talk more frequently, in online video meetings, phone calls and text messages, Nicole Cienna said.

“We’ve transitioned over to all-online, virtual mentoring,” said Tyler Kurashige, chief programs officer for Big Brothers Big Sisters Hawaii, which serves 1,200 children, parents and mentors on Oahu, Maui and Kauai and is about to launch online mentoring for formerly homeless children living in Kahauiki Village, and to young people who are incarcerated in the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility.

The organization’s mission is to alleviate feelings of isolation and provide mentors for children ages 6-16 “who have experienced some kind of traumatic childhood event,” such as a broken home, Kurashige said.

He added that in the coronavirus crisis “we’re seeing a really drastic need right now for emotional support.”

To help meet that need, Big Brothers Big Sisters Hawaii is partnering with Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility, the Institute for Human Services and Catholic Charities Hawaii to connect youngsters and their parents with mentors. The organizations are also holding a series of virtual panel discussions and webinars about mitigating the impacts of the coronavirus crisis on children.

“For many children this has been a really difficult time emotionally — no routine, stress of parents losing jobs, not having the outlet of friends or teachers or school or (sports) — and many are just starving for connection,” said Jill Wright, director of philanthropy and community relations for IHS, which, as of Tuesday, was overseeing 36 children in its family shelter and 229 children in Kahauiki Village.

While several of the children don’t have access to computers, and have been using paper workbooks for school, the Department of Education is allowing students to check out laptops such as Google Chromebooks for summer school use, and there is a children’s classroom at the shelter and a computer lab at Kahauiki Village where they can meet with mentors online, said Brent Llaneza, IHS family program manager.

The need goes beyond academics: “Having a good mentor, if you come in with an open heart and just try and listen to the kids, who have sometimes so much pent up and no one to state it to, can be an invaluable resource, a crucial asset,” Llaneza said.

A mentor “can increase a kid’s chances of having a positive outlook and escaping the cycle of poverty and homelessness with generations of a family on the streets,” he added.

Some of the children will attend summer school, and IHS also provides a summer fun program, in which participants have visited farms, the Hawaii Nature Center, Pearl Harbor and Waimea Falls, but this year it’s uncertain whether these places will be open, Wright said, adding that volunteers are always needed to help with activities, excursions and tutoring.

“I’m hoping more people will do it,” Fournier said of volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters, “especially when school’s out, kids don’t have a lot to do, and (with) parents trying to make ends meet, they don’t always have that older person there to help them during these hard, troubling times filled with unknowns.”

Meanwhile, Xavier, a Hot Wheels collector, said he’s looking forward to things opening up so he and Fournier can visit the Lamborghini showroom and look at his favorite cars.

REACH OUT

For information on volunteering or donating, visit bbbshawaii.org or email volunteer@ihshawaii.org.